Some Nigerian officials, especially chairmen of national federations and others in the Nigerian contingent and athletes have been shy freely talking with Nigerian journalists here in Rio de Janeiro to cover the Rio Olympic Games.
It was gathered that this was because many of the federations had not had good results from the Games.
Teams and athletes have been crashing with ease that they feel shy (or ashamed) that there is nothing to talk about.
Except for Wahid Enitan-Oshodi , President of Nigeria Table Tennis Federation and Daniel Igali, President, Nigeria Wrestling Federation (NWF) it had not been easy getting them to speak about their sports.
After the footballers of the Dream Team VI failed to win against Germany, the officials shunned entreaties for interviews.
“They simply worked past Nigerian journalists, who had been eagerly waiting for post-match interviews.’’
To make matters worse, there are long distances in between venues. Reaching some venues takes upwards of two to three hours.
At the current games, there has not been a place, unlike in past where Nigerians rallied to meet daily to exchange views. Many have not released their telephone numbers for ease to reach them.
In past games, temporary telephone directory were usually published, making it at least easy to reach technical officials and even athletes.
A Nigerian House project that was conceived and inaugurated by Sports Minister, Solomon Dalong appears to exist in realm of concept.
The mention of the Nigeria House has been a strange concept. Nobody wants to discuss the issue.
Only two Nigerian technical officials are known to be officially invited to the ongoing Rio de Janeiro.
The two technical officials are Lawrence Iquiabon, accredited as international referee and Wahid Enitan-Oshodi, with a similar status.
This is against as much as five to six that were always part of the games. There is noticeable decline in the number of Nigerians in international sports.
“This is what we are complaining about. This is what is denying the vital opportunities of improving continentally and globally,’’ an official who pleaded anonymity said.
“This is an obvious sign of failure. When you are not functioning at the technical level and you are not taking part in competitions, its hard to be abreast of latest in the rules as well as opportunity to play sports politics.’’
